Scratch that. I'm going to release chapter 4 less than an hour chapter 3. This is where this story really starts to get interesting. This is easily one of the darkest chapters I've ever written, which, considering some of my previous work, might be hard to believe. This chapter introduces the main antagonist of this story. It's actually a character from The Betrayal: Act I. This chapter is called "The Tragedy". Enjoy.
The Tragedy[]
Cynthia and I were interrupted by a noise coming from the living room, and we both got up. I put on my pants and jacket, and looked at my pocket watch. It was 11:50 P.M. I moved towards the door.
“Stay here”, I whispered.
I exited the bedroom quietly, and went into the kitchen. I walked over to the sink, which was full, even though I had no memory of filling it up. Suddenly, I heard rapid footsteps behind me, and quickly dodged a knife attack from a man wearing a white hooded trench coat, black gloves, black pants, black boots, and black face mask. I counter attacked, and threw him onto the ground. Another two men in identical outfits to the one that I had just defeated attacked me, and I was quickly overwhelmed. They knocked me to the ground, and lifted me up by both arms.
“Good job, lads”, a familiar voice said. I looked up, and saw Alfred, the man who I was forced to abandon in the Loran chalice, standing before me, with his right arm in a sling. “Hello, Sakharine”, he said.
“Alfred?” I said. “You’re alive?” I asked.
“Surprised?” he asked. “I’m honestly surprised that I’m alive too.” He started pacing back and forth. “I don’t blame you for dropping me. I know that it wasn’t your fault. My glove slipped. There was nothing either of us could have done to prevent that. I was able to use my left arm to grab a branch, and crawled to safety. I found that creature trying to crawl away from me. I picked up a rock, and caved its skull in. I eventually found where it had attacked us and, I have to say, I don’t appreciate you taking my sword. Still, though, I don’t blame you. I know you thought I was dead. I was trapped in that dungeon for weeks. Now, though, I’m here, and I’ve never felt so free in my life.”
“What’s this about, Alfred?” I asked.
“I know you killed Mark and Djura”, he said. “I know neither of them cared for me. Now, they’ll be satisfied when I avenge them.”
Suddenly, another person who had gone to the dungeon with us, Derrick, entered the room, along with another mercenary. “This is how it has to be, Nathan”, Derrick said. “I’m sorry, old friend.”
“Derrick?” I asked. “Why?”
“You killed my best friend”, he said.
“You mean Mark?” I asked.
“Yes”, he answered. “I like you, Nathan, but I felt no remorse when we followed you here.”
Suddenly, Cynthia entered the room, and saw what was happening. Everyone looked at her.
“Well, well, well”, Alfred said. “Look what we have here. I hope we didn’t interrupt anything too good.”
One of the mercenaries started circling Cynthia. Before he could do anything to her, I escaped the second and third guys’ grasps, and charged him, tackling him to the ground and beating him senseless before being struck in the back of the head by Derrick with a club. I landed on my side, and watched as the man I had just attacked got up, grabbed Cynthia, dragged her over to the sink, and forced her head in the water. I was about to get up, but Derrick struck me again. I fell to the ground, dazed. Suddenly, Cynthia stopped fighting, and the mercenary threw her onto the ground. He began walking toward the living room, away from me, then turned around. Suddenly, Alfred shot the merc in the neck, killing him. Derrick and another mercenary grabbed me by the arms, and lifted me up.
“It looks like this is the end for you, my friend”, Alfred said as he reloaded his pistol and pointed it at my stomach. “I only wanted to kill you. Cynthia was collateral damage, I guess.” He sighed. “See you in hell.” He shot me point blank in the stomach. Derrick and the mercenary let me fall onto my stomach. One of the mercs gave Alfred his sword back, and he put it on his belt. The five of them left my hideout, leaving me to bleed to death.
I used what little strength I had left to crawl over to Cynthia, leaving a massive blood trail on the floor. I felt her neck with the fingers on my right hand, and there was no pulse. She was dead. I wrapped my right arm around her corpse as I slipped into unconsciousness. I was sure that this was the end....
End[]
Thank you for reading this chapter. I hope you liked it. Tell me what you think in the comments.